Cheer Up Newt, There’s Nowhere to Go But Up!

Well, not really. Things could in fact get worse for Gingrich, but given how bad his week has been, it’s hard to imagine things getting much worse. After facing steadily-declining support, and a number of highly critical news stories, the Associated Press has reported that the senior staff of presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has resigned “en masse.” Campaign manager Rob Johnson, senior strategists Dave Carney and Katon Dawson, and spokesman Rick Tyler have all tendered their resignations from Gingrich’s campaign today.

According to Tyler, “when the campaign and the candidate disagree on the path, they’ve got to part ways.” Though some sources claim that Gingrich was aware of the impending exodus earlier this morning, the resignations were tendered at a staff meeting later in the afternoon. Gingrich’s presidential campaign has been marred by deep disagreements between the former Speaker of the House and his advisors, including a spate over a recent two-week vacation that senior staff strongly advised against.

Gingrich has been the target of a steady stream of negative press in recent weeks. A Washington Post article highlighted the “dramatic expansion of the use of earmarks” during his tenure as Speaker of the House, and Gingrich was featured in a recent Salon article earlier this week that examined his sudden Islamophobic positions in light of his past support of Muslim-American issues, including prayer space at Capitol Hill, and Shariah-compliant finance regulations.

Officials close to the campaign have stated that Gingrich intends to stay in the race for the time being, but his prospects undoubtedly look weak. I can’t say I’m particularly disappointed; considering his willingness to couch shallow fear-mongering and racist populism under a thin pseudo-intellectual veneer, we’re all probably better off without him.